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British Business Investments supports over 34,000 SMEs

Sam Monk | 09:00 Wednesday 16th October 2019

British Business Investments has announced that it is supporting over 34,000 SMEs across the UK, an increase of 28% on the previous year.

In its full-year results for the period ending 31st March 2019, the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank recorded a pre-tax profit of £71m.

This represents an increase of 4.4% on the 2017/18 figure.

British Business Investments saw a 6.5% (5.6% net of costs) gross return on average capital employed for the year, which is ahead of benchmarks of 5.6% and 5% respectively.

Other highlights for the year included:

  • invested £1.1bn through 46 portfolio investments
  • made seven new commitments totalling almost £200m
  • supported £11.4bn of finance through its programmes in the UK market, an increase of 9.4% compared with the previous year
     

“In the 2018/19 financial year, we exceeded all of the objectives our shareholder set, and I look forward to continuing that success as we further develop the business,” said Catherine Lewis La Torre, CEO at British Business Investments (pictured above).

Keith Morgan, chair at British Business Investments, added: “By working with a broad portfolio of finance providers, we can help to increase the choice of funding options available so that a wide range of businesses can find the most suitable finance for their needs.

“British Business Investments has played an important role in helping the British Business Bank achieve its overall objectives this year, including increasing both supply and diversity of funding and helping to reduce regional imbalances in access to finance.”

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